Dear John,

On the third Monday of every February, it is customary for patriotic Americans to celebrate President’s Day.

Claremont Institute staff are also given the day off, but with the injunction that they have memorized George Washington’s 110 Rules of Civility by the following workday.

I bring up our first president because in 1879 what we now refer to as President’s Day became a nationally recognized holiday under the name Washington’s Birthday. And so things remained until 1968, when Congress would pass the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act,” providing what we can only imagine were long-suffering federal employees extra three-day weekends.

George has not enjoyed a nationwide celebration on his actual birthday since 1971. (For an interesting history of this unique holiday, I encourage you to read this write-up by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.)

In honor of George, I would like to recommend this wonderful piece—“Father of His Country: George Washington’s American nationalism”—by Carson Holloway, a Washington Fellow at the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life.

Published in the Spring 2022 edition of the Claremont Review of Books, Holloway describes how what we today call “nationalism” was central to this great leader’s statesmanship.

Enjoy the holidays,

Ryan P. Williams

President, The Claremont Institute